VN farmers lose out on rice deal
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Vietnamese farmers did not benefit from a programme to buy rice to keep in reserve, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
Speaking at a conference also attended by Mekong Delta farmers to review the programme in Kien Giang Province of southern Vietnam recently, ministry officials said food companies were buying from traders instead of directly from farmers.
The government ordered the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) to buy 500,000 to 1 million tonnes of rice for the reserve while ensuring farmers earned a 30-per-cent profit in the process.
VFA’s member companies have completed their purchases, enabling stabilisation of rice prices.
But most farmers had sold their paddy to traders, at low prices, before the programme began, and therefore could not benefit.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Bui Ba Bong said to ensure profits for farmers, the government has ordered his ministry and the VFA to create models for the rice reserve purchase programme.
